"Once our eyes have been opened we can't pretend we don't know what to do. God, who weighs our hearts and keeps our souls, knows that we know and holds us responsible to act." Proverbs 24:12

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Transracial Adoption ~ through the Eyes of God, through the Eyes of The Church

Lately, we've had some comments made to us regarding our choice to pursue a transracial adoption. We knew we would face some criticism, some ridicule, but I don't know that any of the counseling we've had, prepared me for the heavy emotions I've been feeling lately. Some of the comments have been out-right offensive, while others were spoken in almost an apologetic tone, as if they were saying "I'm only telling you this for your own good." While I know that not everyone understands adoption, much less a transracial adoption, these words have hurt deep in my soul and saddened my spirit. I yearn for the opportunity to speak truth into this discussion, to open the eyes of those blinded by the world to a love that God shows to us all, regardless of ethnicity. I pray that our family will be a visible image of God's love and his adoption of each one of us into his family.

Romans 8:15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”

Below is an article I came across by Dan Cruver from Together for Adoption (www.togetherforadoption.org - an excellent site!) regarding this very topic, enjoy!

The Church is the Theater of Transracial Adoption

God promised Abraham that in him “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). From the very beginning, God’s promise to Abraham encompassed every ethnic and racial group.

Jump ahead 1,800+ years.

When Paul wrote Galatians 3:7-8, Jesus had already completed his redemptive mission by living, dying, and being raised from the dead.

The result of Jesus’ redemptive achievement is the fulfillment of God’s promise that in Abraham all the families of the earth would be blessed: “Know then that it is those of faith who are sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed’” (Galatians 3:7-8).

If we’re not careful, we can step right over the significance of Paul’s words. Because of the work of Jesus to fulfill God’s promise to Abraham, a principal identifying mark of God’s family is that it is decidedly multi-ethnic — as multi-ethnic as it’s possible to be!

Because of Jesus, the church is the theater of transracial adoption. It is the place where the drama of redemption — God’s work to adopt children from every ethnicity — is played out over and over again. The church is, as Kevin Vanhoozer writes, “the theater wherein the world sees God’s love played out time and time again” (The Drama of Doctrine, 400).

As Christians, we have the privilege of playing out this drama on both the macro and micro levels. The macro drama, of course, is the church itself. The universal church continually displays the drama of the multi-ethnic family of God for all the world to see. There’s nothing like this macro drama to be found in all of human history.

But there is also a micro drama in which families within each local church can participate. No, God does not call every Christian family to adopt, transracially or otherwise. But the families God does call to adopt transracially have the privilege of being a micro-theater of the macro-drama of redemption for their communities to see.

The earthly practice of transracial adoption is much more than a way to build a family. It’s an opportunity to display the grand story of redemption before a watching world.

Erin, Hi, It's me Grammy Fran, I will be praying for you...don't let the ignorance of other's dampen your spirit...it's a waste of time and energy...your boys are going to be the luckiest little guys on earth...thanks to our AWESOME God...

From one trans-racial family to another....IT IS SO FUN and worth all of the challenges!! God is designing your family with HIS perfect plan in mind...He is so creative and KNOWS what He is doing! :-) He is bringing these boys to your home/heart/family because he knows you need them and they need you! Stay away from the negative people...and when you have a down day...CALL someone who "gets it" !!! We love you guys like crazy!Kim